About the Program

The LLM in Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution will train students to become more effective client advocates in a variety of dispute-related settings. These include client interviewing and counseling, pre-trial advocacy, jury selection, and appellate advocacy. The program is designed to both re-train attorneys whose work has not previously demanded, or taught, such skills, as well as to improve the advocacy skills of attorneys who already work in this area.

The LLM may be taken either part-time or full-time. Students may maintain part-time status by enrolling in a minimum of 5.0 credits per semester. To maintain full-time status, students must enroll in a minimum of 9.0 credits per academic semester. The program is designed to be completed in either one or two years.

Admission Requirements

The LLM program is open to applicants who have received a JD, an LLB, or a comparable law degree. International applicants must meet the same requirements for admission as students from the United States. Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate the ability to speak, write, and understand the English language by submitting an acceptable score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or similar examination. In addition to test scores, telephone or Skype interviews may also be used for foreign applicants.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, but new students will typically begin in the Fall semester.

Degree Requirements

The LLM is a 24-credit program, with 17.0 credits made up of required courses:

Students may select the version of Advanced Trial Advocacy they did not select in fulfillment of the core requirement.

The LLM degree will be conferred only after the student completes 24.0 credits. A student must maintain a GPA of 2.20 each semester and at program completion.

Sample Plan of Study

Students may complete the LLM in one or two years, depending on whether the student chooses to pursue the degree on a full-time or part-time basis. A potential plan of study for a full-time student would be as follows:

School of Law Faculty

Tabatha Abu El-Haj, PhD, LLM, JD(New York University; Georgetown University Law Center; New York University School of Law). Associate Professor. Constitutional law (specifically, First Amendment and election law), popular constitutionalism, administrative law, and the sociology of law.

Adam Benforado, JD(Harvard Law School). Associate Professor. Law and mind sciences, corporate law and contract law.

Mark P. Bernstein, JD(Tulane University)Director of the Legal Research Center and Information Technology Services. Professor. Legal research, education, interdisciplinary research and the role of librarians as educators.

David DeMatteo, PhD, JD(MCP Hahnemann University; Villanova University School of Law)Director of the JD-PhD Program in Law and Psychology. Associate Professor. Psychopathy, forensic mental health assessment, drug policy; offender diversion.

Roger J. Dennis, JD(Northwestern University School of Law)Founding Dean. Professor. Corporate law; business organizations; civil procedure; law and economics.

Robert I. Field, PhD, JD, MPH(Columbia University)Joint Appointment in the Drexel University Kline School of Law. Professor. Department of Health Management and Policy. Health law and public health; ethical issues in managed care, public policy and legal facets of health care reform and genetic screening.

Daniel M. Filler, JD(New York University School of Law)Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs. Professor. Criminal law and procedure; sentencing and death penalty; law and society; law and humanities.

Rachel Lopez, LLM, JD(Universite Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne; University of Texas School of Law)Director of the Community Lawyering Clinic. Assistant Professor. Appellate law and the functioning of court and judicial systems; bioethics; reproductive rights; intersection of law and religion.

Karl Okamoto, JD(Columbia University School of Law)Director of the Business and Entrepreneurship Law Program. Professor. Entrepreneurship; business organizations; corporate law; venture finance; securities law.

Gwen Roseman Stern, JD(Temple University School of Law)Director of Trial Advocacy Program. Professor. Medical malpractice and product-liability law, trial advocacy and community awareness of legal procedures.

Donald F. Tibbs, PhD, LLM, JD(Arizona State University; University of Wisconsin Law School; University of Pittsburgh School of Law). Associate Professor. The overlapping issues of law, civil rights, criminal procedure, race and punishment and professional responsibility.

Writing-intensive Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

For additional information, and an up-to-date list of the writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Drexel University Writing Center page